Our Rustic Modern Dining Room

It’s often said that the kitchen is the heart of the home, and to an extent, I would agree.

But there’s just something magical about the dining room. To me, there are few things better than good food.

Good food comforts me. Food I’m not in the mood for can send me for tailspin. And gathering with loved ones over food is one of life’s purest pleasures, in my book.

I love life lived around the table.

Granted, there are times in our house when the dining table becomes the laundry drying station (and laundry sits there for four days).

But I love having a casual, but pretty place to gather with family and eat.

I didn’t announce that we would be redoing our dining room because I really didn’t know. But I was unhappy with it.

You can see the before and after post here. It was pretty dramatic, considering this used to be a kitchen.

But it was blah. I thought just adding more art or curtains would fix it, but we quickly realized that this room wasn’t only aesthetically lacking, but it was not functional. AT ALL.

I love that farmhouse dining table.

My husband made it for me for our first Christmas when we could barely afford a thrift store dining table that was falling apart and yet I was dreaming of a farmhouse table.

He surprised me with it one night a few days before Christmas. He was way too excited to wait. It was already built, but we chose the stain color together and worked on it, side-by-side, for hours.

There are memories wrapped up in that table.

And because of that, I fought what I knew for a long time.

It was not working in this space.

I know that maybe hard to see in pictures, but this table is huge. Our last dining room (that the table was built for) was much larger. Here, I hated having people over for dinner because you literally couldn’t fit between the chairs and the wall to get around the table. To sit down, you had to pull out the chair (which wouldn’t come all the way out before hitting the wall) and sort of squeeze/fall into the chair.

It wasn’t functional and it made the room look small, but oh, I loved that table. Chris has been trying to get me to use a different table for a while. He kept arguing for a smaller table that would fit better.

Six months ago, he brought home this wire spool from work.

He said he knew it would make the perfect dining table. It was rustic, which he loves. It was much smaller than our old one, yet six people could still comfortably fit around it.

I said uh-uh, no way. No clue why, but it just wasn’t what I’d pictured here.

I finally gave in and let him bring it in to try it. We moved the black bench back against the window to sort of anchor the room and give it a focal point. Then, we surrounded it with my favorite white, modern dining chairs.

I liked it, but it was still missing something. With the smaller table, the room looked so bare. The buffalo print was not enough. I needed wall art and curtains, stat. But I knew I could find those things and I also knew that this was our new table.

All we did was put some coats of clear poly on it to give it a more finished feel. I love that you can still see the old markings on it. It gives it soul.

The room feels so much larger now and with my added details, I love the whole feel of the dining room, not just the table.

The other table was so huge that you barely noticed accessories like pillows or wall art. Now, I love the whole complete picture.

I immediately pictured a cowhide rug in this space and my new one from The World’s Longest Yardsale was perfect.

The curtains were another story. Of course, we decided to officially change all of this the week before my fall tour. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m particular. I knew exactly what I wanted in curtains, which proved to be rather difficult.

I pictured vintage floral that was muted, but colorful. The white room and all neutral furniture needed something.

I went on many curtain searches in that week when I should’ve been decorating for fall and just couldn’t find anything. I finally came across a scarf at Target and I told my friend, “This is it. This is exaclty what I’m picturing, but in curtains.” It was a floral with a vintage feel. It had a black background with plum, peach, and blue flowers on it. It was very dramatic and I knew it would be perfect in the space.

The only problem?

It was a scarf.

And I would’ve had to buy twenty thousand of them and sew them together to make curtains. Boo.

I continued on the search and finally, when I’d almost given up hope, I said I was going to go to one last place. I pulled into the new Joann’s Fabric Store in Greenville. It was my first time going and based on what I’d found elsewhere, my expectations were low. I went inside and quickly came across my scarf print, but on a bolt.

It wasn’t literally the same print ofcourse, but it was it.

Black background. Plum, red, peach, and blue flowers. Vintage feel.

MY CURTAINS!!!! I grabbed it up and ran to have it cut. There was just enough left on the bolt to make a narrow set of curtains and that worked for me! I found some other fun coordinating fabrics while I was there like the tan and gold heart pillow in the dining room.

{Pillows from left to right: IKEA, Target, Joann’s}

I love the room with curtains. It gave it the finished feel I was searching for.

In case you weren’t around then, you can read about how we made the dining room chandelier here.

I love how it picks up the blue of the curtains. That may be hard to see in the pictures, but it is beautiful in person!

I love it!!! I’m the same way with furniture pieces sometimes-it’s hard to let go of something that has so many wonderful memories tied to it. But I love, love, love your new table!!! And the curtains are fab of course. ????

When I first saw the pictures, I felt like the curtains totally make the room. The window looks so much bigger. The spool table looks much more polished than I expected. It’s definitely rustic, but it doesn’t look like it just came off a construction site. I really like how you’ve pulled everything together.

Chris was right. That table is perfect there. What did you do with the table he made? I hope you found a good spot for it, because it’s lovely. The room rocks! I love when God blesses us with the little things – like finding the perfect curtains to complete the room. The space has a warm, rustic, and modern vibe – all in one.

Your hubby has great taste! Kudos on BOTH the tables, I’d totally have a struggle over moving away from that beautiful farmhouse table too… especially with such good memories, but that round table fits the space perfect (and so creative)

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[…] This dining room from Lindsay of The Buffalo Styling Co. has inspired me for ages now. That light fixture has haunted my design dreams since the first time I saw it. But there’s other pieces, too, that I’m inspired by. Like the subtle, yet still fresh and vibrant, curtains. The rustic vibe of the table paired with the clean lines of the mid century china cabinet is so interesting. And the fact that the space isn’t huge is a big thing for me. It can be so overwhelming looking at giant spaces full of all the bells and whistles when that just isn’t relatable to my space at all. […]